Dust Blizzard Clouds City, Causes Pile-up

June 01, 1985|By Paul Sullivan.

Winds of up to 60 miles an hour ripped through northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana Friday, causing widespread power failures in the Chicago area and a chain-reaction crash on Int. Hwy. 90 near Marengo, where one man was killed and 10 people were injured.

The pile-up, which involved 10 cars and 5 semi-trailer trucks, occurred in the eastbound lanes of the Northwest Tollway shortly after 11 a.m. The powerful gusts misted topsoil from nearby farmland over the highway, reducing visibility for travelers to near zero, according to Illinois State Trooper William Leach.

The 18-mile stretch of I-90 between Hampshire and Belvidere was closed immediately after the crash and reopened 4 1/2 hours later at 4 p.m., said Sgt. Raymond Voss of the State Police.

``It was like a blizzard out there,`` Voss said. ``You couldn`t see anything.``

Power failures lasting from 30 minutes to 8 hours occurred throughout the Chicago area, particularly in the north and northwest suburbs. Commonwealth Edison spokesman John Hogan said that downed or damaged power lines cut electricity to 18,000 customers.

2,000 in McCook; 1,000 in Lombard; 100 in La Grange; 1,500 in Arlington Heights; 1,000 in Des Plaines; 500 in Downers Grove; 500 in Justice; 1,000 in Wheeling; 2,000 in Country Club Hills; 1,000 in Evergreen Park; 400 on the Northwest Side of Chicago, and 1,000 in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.

Gordon Feather, a National Weather Service meteorologist at O`Hare International Airport, said that blowing dust was in the air over most of northern Illinois.

``Sustained strong winds are able to blow dust for long distances,`` he said. Conditions like those Friday ``are very infrequent in this area,``

Feather said. ``I certainly haven`t seen anything like this since Mt. St. Helens blew up`` in 1980, sending volcanic debris over the Chicago area.

The wind speeds were the highest recorded in the Chicago area since 69-m.p.h. winds blew in with a thunderstorm on the night of April 30, 1984. A record wind of 87 m.p.h. hit the area in February, 1894.

Killed in the accident on the Northwest Tollway was Grant Jacobson, 66, of Manoma, Wis. He was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, where he was dead on arrival.

Of the 10 injured, 6 were taken to hospitals. Four people were taken to St. Joseph: Gregory Bartholomew, 27, of Rockford, listed in serious condition with multiple cuts and an amputated right foot; Annette Gravagano, 22, of Rockford, in fair condition with multiple cuts; Mary Jean Jacobson, 67, of Manoma, in fair condition with multiple cuts, and Elmira Latimar, 69, of Elgin, who was treated and released.

Two men were treated and released for minor injuries at Sherman Hospital in Elgin: Don Wilke, 43 of Rockford, and Richard Whitney, 31, of Winnebago.

Spokesmen at O`Hare and Midway Airports said that heavy winds had not affected operations there, but Meigs Field shut down at 11 a.m. The airport ceases operation any time crosswinds exceed 25 knots an hour (about 29 m.p.h.). Winds at Meigs were clocked at 30 knots (34.5 m.p.h.), a spokesman said.

The high winds were the result of a low-pressure storm moving westward last night from the Dakotas and through the Great Plains, arriving in Chicago about 6 a.m., according to Evert Schmidt of Central Weather Service. ``It just really wound itself up this morning and produced a tremendous amount of wind,`` Schmidt said.

The heavy winds turned sunny skies into an orange haze for much of the afternoon, reducing visibility from the observation deck of the John Hancock Building from 30 to 4 miles in less than an hour.

Three people were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital Friday afternoon after being injured by flying debris downtown. Debbie Chappel, 21, of Willow Springs, was listed in fair condition with a possible fractured jaw and multiple head injuries after a card table hit her in the face at an outdoor art fair near the Wrigley Building, a hospital spokesman said. Two others were treated and released with minor injuries.

Two Chicago women and a 3-year-old girl were slightly injured by a falling tree limb while standing on a downtown street corner, a spokesman at Mercy Hospital said. The three were in good condition.

Both the Chicago Yacht Club and the Coast Guard reported no wind-related boating accidents, but small-craft warnings were issued early Friday morning and boaters venturing onto the lake were few.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, Milwaukee reported gusts of up to 61 m.p.h., and dust storms in South Bend, Ind., reduced road visibility to less than 100 yards, according to Central Weather Service. The U.S. 31 bypass in northwest Indiana was also closed Friday afternoon by winds.

Emergency workers Friday pulled two bodies from a nursing home demolished by a tornado in Elkader, Ia., Thursday night.